More computer hassles
Two days ago, my new computer spontaneously rebooted while I was out for a walk again, even though the settings menu still says it’s set not to reboot during active hours. When I signed in, it gave me a “Let’s finish setting up” startup screen and I was afraid it had somehow wiped out all my data and reset to day one. It turned out all my stuff is still there, so I don’t know why it thought I was back to setup. It had been 4 weeks to the day since I got it, so maybe it was set to prompt me to finish setup that I’d skipped earlier, or something?
(Anyway, it gave me the option to connect the PC to my phone again, and I finally successfully linked them, though I’m not sure I’ll have much use for the function.)
It occurred to me the next day to check the event log for the time of the reboot, and it seems there was an unexpected shutdown, not an auto-update as I assumed. It offered no explanation for the shutdown, but suggested that there could have been a power interruption or that there’s some kind of a hardware fault. I’d hate to have to replace the PC so soon and go to the trouble of setting up another with my software.
Split-second power interruptions are actually something that happens in this apartment from time to time, which wouldn’t have been an issue with my laptop, since it had a battery. I decided that, since my power strip is really old, I should replace it on general principles, so I’ve ordered a new one that includes battery backup. Hopefully that will solve the problem, and if not, well, it’s still probably a good idea to have it.
Meanwhile, I followed online advice to go into the advanced settings and disable the thing that auto-reboots after a system failure. That may have been a mistake. I came back to the computer after some time reading a book and found the screen blank, and nothing I did with the keyboard would get it to light up again, although the power-on light on the mini-PC was lit. Pushing the power button on the mini-PC didn’t do anything, so I had to unplug it to restart. (Well, I didn’t try unplugging the keyboard from the PC first, so I don’t know if that would’ve worked.) Needless to say, I’ve re-enabled the auto-reboots. But I’m worried that this happened twice in as many days.
The system log in the event viewer doesn’t show any sign of a system failure in the time window in question. The only notation was one from when I rebooted, saying “The previous system shutdown at 6:41:31 PM on 8/24/2023 was unexpected.”
The fact that it can’t tell me anything except “shutdown unexpected” suggests the cause may be external. So I’m hoping this is due to some power supply problem that the new battery-backup power strip will fix. But if that were the case, why didn’t it just shut down, like it did when I unplugged it? Also, why does this only happen when I’m away from the computer for a time? The timing is wrong for it to be a sleep mode thing, and it only happens occasionally.
I still haven’t figured out how to get the printer to work, by the way. I’ve been busy finishing a novel manuscript.
On top of everything else, I found out this morning that the window for returning the thing to Amazon expired yesterday. If the power strip doesn’t fix things, or if the problems worsen, I may have to contact the manufacturer’s customer service. But it’s a small company based in Hong Kong and I had a hard time even finding an address. Alternatively, I could find a local repair shop to take it to. There are two nearby that I can find, but the nearer one is a place whose service I haven’t been too happy with in the past.
If the worst happens and I have to replace it, I may just go for a new laptop after all. The main reasons I wanted a desktop PC were price, the convenience of not having to open the lid to turn it on, and the option of having an optical drive, but I ended up having to buy an outboard optical drive anyway, then returned it when it stopped working.
Anyway, I really hope the power strip fixes the problem. I don’t like being preoccupied with this when I’m trying to wrap up the manuscript of Arachne’s Legacy.
As always, I welcome informed suggestions and input.
